It wasn’t the typical first look. Instead of being a private affair between just the bride and groom, the entire bridal party huddled from above in one small doorway and a few windows of the barn at Goodtree Farmstead in Northfield, Minnesota. The excitement and anticipation was visible over Keaton’s entire face while Sam calmly stood behind him waiting for further directions. As she walked towards him, the bridesmaids couldn’t help but giggle with pure delight! These two and their journey had finally brought them to their wedding day. Finally, it was the moment, Keaton turned to see his bride and his anticipation turned into joy. His beautiful bride was standing in front of him and for a moment, he forgot about the husband and wife wedding photographers, the bridal party, and the busyness of the day and stepped forward to kiss his bride, take in her beauty, and then pick up her hand to his lips, giving her a soft kiss.

​It was hot, like really hot. All three of us adults were sweating and slightly uncomfortable, but it was oh-so-worth-it as we stood around an adorable little newborn. The little guy was a week old and to help him keep warm, we laughed at the fact that the Rock’s household was probably the only house in Woodbury in mid-July with the heat on – the things you do for a newborn portrait session!

Taking wedding photos at a beautiful Minnesotan rustic barn is one thing. Taking wedding photos at the place where your grandparents met – the place where your grandpa went to work on a farm and met the love of his life – is another. This was the case for Jordan and Emily’s gorgeous wedding day in Monticello, Minnesota. While the wedding was at Elk River United Methodist Church and the reception in the Mississippi Room of the Monticello Community Center, they wanted their portraits done at a place that held precious past family memories and would create special new ones.

​We remember preparing for our wedding like it was yesterday. Whether that is from the sheer excitement of getting married or the overwhelming feelings of all that we had to then accomplish, we’re not sure. So, if we could go back and tell ourselves a thing or two differently one of those wound be the following. Find a site like basicinvite.com.

​Dear Mark, 
 
As I look over at you from the passenger’s seat of the van on our latest adventure, I can’t help but wonder where has the time gone. It brings me back to preparing for my first road trip with you. My parents had sat me down and asked me if I was interested in going to LIFE 2007 with the Wiggins. Your parents had offered to drive me from Toledo, Ohio to Orlando, Florida with you and your sister. The five-day youth event would take us two weeks, because we’d be stopping to visit with your extended family in Georgia both ways where I’d get to meet your grandpa and grandma as well as aunts, uncles, and cousins. I definitely had liked you; we had exchanged emails and even seen each other at youth events from time-to-time, but two weeks? I wrote in my journal to God that if I still liked you and wasn’t annoyed with you after two weeks of constant contact with you, then you must be the one. Classic 15-year-old girl, yes, but here we are! It's 11 years later, two boys in the back seat and you jamming out to the latest Hillsong Young and Free album. 

Ethan has been praying for baby and baby's millk for weeks. We’re not really sure where his obsession with baby's milk came from. Was it the fact that he never figured out nursing and knew how much of an extra step it was for me to pump for his first year of life or is it him acknowledging the time that it took away from daily schedules in nursing Deacon? Who knows! All Mark and I know is that every time we pray for Megan and Timon, we cannot forget to pray for "baby in the belly and baby's milk." Anyways, it's not every day that your younger sister is pregnant with her first baby -- and a baby boy too! So when, your sister casually asks if you'd take their maternity photos, the answer is ABSOLUTELY. We decided to try out a new location and it served us well because exploring and walking along the path of Lebanon Hills for their photos was a beautiful setting!